The present invention relates to the control of ants and in particular to preventing ants from reaching desserts residing on a table.
Ants of various varieties are common in both rural and urban areas. In many areas, leaving a dessert remnant on a table, counter, or any location for a length of time, for example, overnight, results in an ant trail to the dessert remnant. Once the ants have found a dessert, they frequently return and quickly become a nuisance and are particularly annoying during hot, cold, or rainy weather when they are often actively seeking shelter. Ants may additionally create health issues. Ants also often spoil outdoor outings by invading dessert arranged on a picnic table or the like. Such invasions may be even more common in wet or other inclimate weather.
Various designs have been proposed to prevent access to bowls, tables, and the like to ants. Some simple designs include a single simple moat containing a liquid to block the ants, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,790, U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,365, U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,798, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,099. Unfortunately, a single moat has not proven effective to blocking ants. Other more complicated designs include two or more moats separated by various features in an attempt to block the ants, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,609, but these have amounted to disjoint obstacles which the ants have addressed as separate and independent obstacles and overcome as they have overcome a single moat.
Further, known designs are often delegated to utility bowls because of the awkward and/or overly complex appearance, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,609. Such designs are not acceptable for many occasions, for example, serving plates or table, where appearance is important.
Therefore, a need remains for an effective obstacle having an attractive design to prevent ants from reaching dessert.